A Life in the Past

Alfred Weasley had taken Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Ginny, and his own family, excluding Annabelle, back to his home by horse and carriage. They had taken with them the trunk that had been hidden in one of the chambers in the place they had just been.

There had been a set of three keys with the trunk, and they had all decided to gather into one of the dungeons to explore the trunk's contents.

The first two parts of the trunk were empty.

"Perhaps we should fill it with gold?" Wilfred suggested.

Ron arched an eyebrow. "When Ginny and I found it in the present, there were two cloaks and some gold in it," he said.

"My dear sister's cloak," said Nicholas. "We must put in it my dear sister's cloak."

Ginny pulled the cloak that she had been wearing for the past few days off her shoulders. "Here it is," she said.

"Mine as well," said Wilfred. "I shall not miss it." He offered his cloak, which he had found in his own bedroom.

Jonathon took both cloaks and dropped them into the trunk and closed the lid.

"What else was there?" Hermione asked. "We need to get this perfect so that it all works out."

"Gold," said Ron.

"How much?" Alfred asked.

"Loads," Ron replied.

"Two thousand galleons should be fine," said Alfred. "We shall always know where to find it, if ever we need it. This trunk can be a sort of emergency place of gold."

Nicholas and Nigel had been told to fill the trunk with gold, and so they did.

In the meantime, everybody else was invited to have a meal by the house elf.

While they were eating, conversation was scarce, as the Weasleys (the ones who were present), were all shooting Alfred dirty looks. They were all seated around the round wooden table, each with a plate of fish and carrots placed in front of them.

Finally, Draco found that it was becoming too quiet for his liking.

"Stone doesn't burn," he said.

Hermione raised her eyebrows at him in a questioning way.

"This place is built of stone," he went on. "It can't burn. So it looks like my prediction was better after all."

"What the Hell are you on about, Malfoy?" said Harry, glaring across the table.

"It's mine and the Mudblood's little secret," said Draco, purposely trying to get to Ron and Harry.

Ron looked up from the plate in front of him and dropped his spoon. "What?" he said, in the most menacing voice possible for him. "What's going on here?"

"I'd like to know that as well," said Ginny, looking from Draco, to Hermione, and back again.

"It's nothing," said Hermione. "Goodness, this is so stupid. We were just discussing some possibilities of events that will occur before time reaches our era."

Ron blinked. "Explain," he said.

"Here's my theory," said Draco. "And so far, it's gone perfectly, I said Annabelle should be thrown out of this family, and it happened, so..."

He was cut off by Tobias, who spoke very angrily.

"Sacrificing a family member is not at all just," he said, face red. "Especially your only daughter. I cannot believe we allowed this to occur."

"What kind of a father are you?" Jonathon growled, glaring at Alfred. "To sign away your only daughter? To even give away a child?"

"He's got so many of them, what difference does one make?" said Draco, earning himself a glare from Ginny, to which he responded with a sweet smile.

"How dare you speak this way!" Alfred shouted. "Allowing a Malfoy into my home is quite enough, but if you keep up this selfish behaviour, I will have you thrown out of here!"

"Oh, you're talking to me?" said Draco. "I thought you were talking to them," he gestured toward Tobias and Jonathon. "They're the ones who keep insulting your parenting."

"And they reserve the right to," Ebenezer chimed in. "But you do not possess any right."

Draco scowled, but pushed the subject no farther.

"I apologize to my family for what I have done," Alfred said, voice calm once again. "But you do not seem to understand my reasoning; Annabelle has done such a terrible thing to her brother, and I would forgive her, but I cannot, not this time. She has turned evil, and ruined this family forever."

"Not forever," said Ron. "Back in the present, all the Weasleys are understanding, and we all get along."

"How do we know she was not possessed by evil demons?" Wilfred inquired.

"She was," said Draco, forgetting that he was now afraid to speak. "She was reciting all these poems, and doing all this weird shrieking."

"There we are," said Ebenezer. "She has not turned to the other side."

"But she must have done," said Harry, trying to piece things together. "Why else would she even talk to Malfoy?"

"I haven't turned evil," said Ginny, defending herself to Ron. "I still love you, Ron, and I'll never sacrifice you for anything."

"I know," said Ron. "I love you and all."

"Isn't that sweet?" Hermione said to Draco, who was seated beside her.

"Brother and sister bonding," Draco sneered. "Sickly, if you ask me."

"Oh shut up," said Hermione.

"You know what I'd really like to know, other than whether Annabelle's really evil or not?" said Harry.

"What's that?" asked Ginny.

"What Hermione and Malfoy got up to while we were trying to save Wilfred," said Harry. "They're acting like old friends, and it's really unsettling."

"That's horrible of you, Potter," said Draco. "How dare you say I'm friends with a Mudblood. I could never live up the shame of that."

"I don't think I'd ever want to be friends with Malfoy," said Hermione. "He's so arrogant and stuck up."

"Oh thanks, Granger," said Draco sarcastically.

"No problem, Malfoy," Hermione said in a mocking tone. "But back to the matter at hand, Annabelle made a deal with Malfoy..."

But she was interrupted by Draco who said, "Make a deal with a Malfoy, make a deal with the Devil himself."

Hermione raised her eyebrows at Draco, but continued nevertheless. "So obviously, she agreed to sacrifice all of the Weasley fortune for something," she said. "But why would she do such a thing?"

"Because she was in love with Elias," said Ginny, causing Ron to stare at her in absolute shock. "She told us," she added quickly, seeing the expression on Ron's face. "She said she loved Elias, but he betrayed her or something."

"My poor child!" Martha cried. "Alfred, you terrible, terrible man!"

"No, it's not his fault," said Draco. "If Annabelle gave in once, she'll undoubtedly do it again. Power hungry, that's all she is. She'd kill you all off if it meant gaining a little power. In fact, it shocks me that she hasn't tried it."

"Maybe she will," said Hermione. "Maybe she'll try to burn this place down."

"It's stone," said Draco. "It won't burn."

"What are you, a Muggle?" said Hermione.

Draco's ears turned red, and his expression became angry.

"She could use any destructive spell to destroy this castle," Hermione continued, ignoring Draco's glare.

"But not a fire," said Draco. "You said fire. You can't change it now!"

"Fine," said Hermione. "I'll suggest something else."

"Fine," said Draco. "But I'm sticking with my too many children theory."

"What are those two on about?" Ron asked.

Harry shrugged. "But I think they may be on to something," he said. "Maybe Annabelle is evil, and she's working with Malfoy to get at the Weasley fortune."

"Why would she have sold herself out?" asked Ron. "Wouldn't it have been easier for her to stay with the family, then act when they least expect it?"

Harry was about to reply, but just then, the door opened, admitting Nicholas and Nigel.

"We're finished," Nigel said. "Please may we eat?"

"Do not be foolish," said Alfred. "Of course you may eat."

"We just thought you no longer cared for your children," said Nicholas.

"Actually, we were just discussing Annabelle," said Tobias. "It seems she may have become evil over time, grown power hungry."

"But she may have been working under an influence of some sort," Jonathon put in.

"Will you people listen to my theory?" said Draco, frustrated.

"What give you any right?" Wilfred retorted. "You be a Malfoy."

"I may be a Malfoy, but I'm not just any old Malfoy," said Draco. "I'm Draco Malfoy, the cleverest one in the lot."

"What makes you clever?" said Ron. "You're a complete git."

"Fine then," said Draco. "Don't listen, you'll never know the truth."

"Why haven't we gone back to the present?" Ginny asked, voice whiny.

"Because we want to figure this out," Draco and Hermione said in unison.

"All right, this is way too weird," said Harry. "When did you two become... I don't even know what you are, it's just not right."

"Yeah, that was weird," said Ron. "What's going on, Hermione?"

"Nothing is going on," said Hermione. "Why can't you believe that?"

"I do believe you," said Ron. "It's only... Well, it seems a little weird, doesn't it?"

"I think Annabelle fell for Elias," said Ginny. "Then his father wanted the Weasley family's gold and what not, so he tried to get it through his son. It obviously didn't work, but instead they got Annabelle. Why would they want Annabelle?" She paused for a moment, waiting for her words to sink into everyone's minds. "It was because Elias wanted her, and everyone knows he's completely spoiled, so his father agreed to let him have whatever he wanted. So now, his father is out of a lot of money, just so Elias can be happy."

"He's lost even more than you think," said Ron. "There was some sort of auction going on, where the parents of girls bid money for their daughter to marry into the Malfoy family."

"But could Elias ever be happy?" Nicholas asked. "Malfoys do not care for happiness."

"Then maybe there's some other pact," said Ginny. "Maybe Annabelle was the brains behind the entire operation."

"Don't let your imagination interfere with fact," Hermione warned. "We're all just making things up."

"Yeah, but which of us has predicted the truth?" Draco said, boastfully.

"Lucky guess," said Hermione. "I doubt the rest of your prediction could ever work; you can't sell bits of a house."

"Fine," said Draco. "But I got one right. I'm willing to bet that I'm right."

"Could it be possible that Annabelle was only acting when we were alone with her?" Ginny asked Draco.

"Yeah," said Draco. "Could be..."

"So maybe this was her plan all along," said Ginny. "But she sounded so scary when we thought she was possessed."

"Maybe she was," said Draco. "And what was she doing to that corpse?"

"Oh, that was nasty," said Ginny. "That was completely horrible."

"What happened?" asked Ron.

"She was talking to that corpse," Ginny replied. "Then she started eating the maggots."

Hermione scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Suddenly, I'm not so hungry anymore," she said.

"Hold on one moment," said Ebenezer, jumping up. "I shall be back."

"Wonder where he's going?" said Harry, as Ebenezer exited the room.

"Toilet?" Draco suggested.

Ebenezer returned shortly, holding a book. A little black book that resembled a diary.

Ginny flinched at the sight of it, and Harry grasped her hand protectively.

"They had diaries in 1143?" Draco asked. "It can't have been that long ago, then."

"I have never dared to read my sister's private thoughts," Ebenezer said, taking his seat at the table once again between Alfred and Tobias.

"Nor I," said Wilfred. "Would never dream of it."

Nicholas and Nigel chuckled.

"They must read it all the time," Wilfred whispered to Ron. "They be very disrespectful."

Ron nodded. "I have two at home just like them," he said.

Ebenezer handed the diary to Jonathon, who was sitting across from him.

Jonathon flipped through the little book, all eyes on him.

"Harry, really, I'm all right," said Ginny.

"You sure?" Harry asked.

Ginny nodded.

"Aha!" Jonathon exclaimed. "She has written about Elias." He handed the book to his mother beside him.

"We never saw that," said Nicholas.

"We must have missed it," Nigel said.

Martha's eyes widened as she looked at the book. "Oh! Tis terrible!" she cried, throwing the book down onto the table.

Wilfred picked the book up and passed it to Ron. "I cannot read it," he said.

Ron passed the book to Harry, who was about to hand it to Ginny.

"Are we playing pass the parcel?" asked Draco. "Because if you pass me that book, I'll set it on fire."

"Just give it here, Harry," said Ginny, taking the book from Harry's hand. "It's just a diary, I can handle it."

Ginny looked at the book in front of her. There were words scrawled across its parchment pages. She began to read aloud. "Elias is most wonderful," she read. "He promises me power, and shows me I do not need my family. I have plans to be powerful, and I shall have all my family's gold, leaving them defenceless and poor. I must succeed. I know I shall, one way or another, power can be mine."

"Sounds like a joke to me," said Draco.

"It isn't," said Hermione. "I think that's really her diary."

"Why is it so funny sounding?" Draco asked.

"It's not," said Ginny. "You just don't want to believe it for some odd reason."

"I don't care," said Draco. "In fact, I'm glad she's evil, because now we can go back to the present since we've figured this all out."

"Very well," said Alfred. "Now does my family understand my reasoning?"

All the Weasleys, including Ron and Ginny, nodded.

"Great," said Draco. "It's about damn time."